Fantine
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Lea as Fantine OR Lea as Eponine?Now which role do you think was better suited for her?
(This is a bit on the edge for the dead Horse thread but it has not been discussed here before so....)
I know some people did not like her Eponine as much. Those people said that she had been the perfect Kim. Now that Fantine and Kim are a bit alike... Is Fantine a better part for her?
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EponinesRain
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Hrm, it's hard to say. According to the interviews found in The Musical Worlds of Boublil and Schonberg, the writers, lyricists, and producers of Les Mis said that Eponine and Fantine are parallel characters in leitmotif and in that they both sacrificed their life for somebody. Still, they are worlds apart. Like, Fantine is an upgraded version of Eponine to me.
Not only are the characters very different, thus requiring different skills of a performer, but Lea played these characters at different stages in her life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lea's read the book to do character study on Fantine, but didn't do so when playing Eponine. Okay, so naturally, she's channeling Fantine better already. Secondly, she's playing Fantine after she's already given birth to her own daughter. That in itself must contribute a lot to her understanding of Fantine, viscerally and otherwise. I love Lea in the TAC dvd as Eponine; she delivers one hell of a performance. But, I think that being a mother herself has done that much more for her portrayal and understanding of Fantine.
As for if she was suitable in playing a prostituting, naive street-waif...well, I've never seen her live as Eponine, so I can't say. What does everybody else think? 
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Quique
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I never saw Lea as Eponine live onstage, so I only have her concert performance to judge her by.
I think we can all agree that her concert vocal performance is gorgeous.
I was less than enthusiastic with her interpretation of the role. It wasn't terrible, but a bit too angry and insincere - and not saying intentionally. I'm sorry, but that's just my honest opinion.
However, I was simply blown away by her Fantine in the revival. It was not only sincere and heartwrenching, it was vocally powerful and emotive.
Therefore, I prefer Lea's Fantine over her Eponine.
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EponineMNFF
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I think Lea's Eponine is awesome. She was my first ever favorite Eponine, but when you look at all of the Eponines, her interpretation is one of the two categories that it seems almost everyone fits in: Bitter/angry or cutesy/depressed. (Not all Eponines fit into that category, but there is a pattern.) Her singing was spectacular and her acting was very good, but that performance is completely upstaged by her outstanding Fantine.
I've never seen a Fantine who even compares. (Well, in my defense, I've gotten pretty unlucky when it comes to the actresses I've seen as Fantine. 'Cept for when I got to see Lea!) She's got the same superb vocals as she did when she was playing Eponine, but it's topped off with a beautiful and touching interpretation.
So, both of her performances are on my top ten favorites of that character, but her Fantine is definitely superior.
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Colle
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From what I have heard of both Lea's Eponine and Fantine, I like both equally. It hard to explain.
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LesMisForever
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It is hard to compare.
I haven't seen her live in either, but i will go for Eponine.
I love her Eponine, and i think that is how should Eponine be. Furthermore, i haven't seen too many Eponines that impressed me like her.
While i like the character Fantine far more than Eponine, i have heard (and definetly seen) other wonderful Fantines.
So, that little bit uniquness in Eponine edge it for me.
Btw....i don't fully believe that because she is a mother now, she plays the role better. I know she said that, but look t Ruthie Henshall, or Jo Ampil. Both are incredible Fantines IMO, and none is mother (Ruthie wasn't at the time).
It certainly doesn't harm, but i somehow doubt it is a big issue.
Actors/actresses always say that though. It has a good sound to it 
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windbelle
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From what I've heard and seen, I prefer Lea as Fantine. Vocally her Eponine was marvellous on TAC but I wasn't overly moved, while her Fantine brought me to tears, and that's unusual for me.
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Fantine
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I watched Hey Mr Producer last night and when I saw OMO I thought: wow what a voice! And I do think that she is an awesome Eponine. She is the first Eponine I ever saw (TAC though) and I guess that means a lot. That's why all the TAC performers will always have special places in my heart, even though it was only later that I discovered all the details of how the characters "should" be. Not saying that they did not portray their characters that way though.
I haven't really seen enough of her Fantine, so it's hard to judge that.
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Colle
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How much being a mother has helped Lea protray Fantine, I am not sure. She must have been pretty convincing playing a mother in "Miss Saigon" or she wouldn't have won all those awards for the role, including the Tony.
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Eponine93
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I never saw Lea's Eponine live but I'm going to reiterate what's already been said, judging from the DVD:
As Eponine on the TAC her vocals were great (unsurprisingly) and I personally liked her interpretation of the role, but it wasn't: "OMG BEST EPONINE EVAH!!!!!!"
As Fantine... well, you all know what I think of her Fantine. Let's put it this way: whenever I have to run in gym class, I think of her performance and run through her interpretation of I Dreamed A Dream in my head to get my mind of my physical pain and exhaustion. Even though it's been eight months since I saw her in the role, her interpretation has still stuck with me to the point I use it to get through anything that really challenges me.
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Eponine93
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BTW... when comparing Lea's Fantine to Lea's Eponine... have we ever had a character discussion Fantine vrs. Eponine? I mean, we've discussed Cosette vrs. Eponine till we wanted to be Eponine, shot and all, but I don't remember ever having a debate about Fantine vrs. Eponine and that could be really interesting...
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EponinesRain
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| LesMisForever wrote: | | Btw....i don't fully believe that because she is a mother now, she plays the role better. I know she said that, but look t Ruthie Henshall, or Jo Ampil. Both are incredible Fantines IMO, and none is mother (Ruthie wasn't at the time). It certainly doesn't harm, but i somehow doubt it is a big issue. Actors/actresses always say that though. It has a good sound to it |
| Colle wrote: | | How much being a mother has helped Lea protray Fantine, I am not sure. She must have been pretty convincing playing a mother in "Miss Saigon" or she wouldn't have won all those awards for the role, including the Tony. |
You both make valid points and I take back what I said about the whole mother thing, heh!  I guess I was trying to understand Lea's interpretation of her roles through her eyes, but only she can say what she did/felt. I shouldn't be putting words in her mouth. Plus, it's about what we, as the audience, thought was better. So, I'm sorry for taking this topic on a slight tangent!
Ooh, I agree with Eponine93. A discussion comparing Fantine and Eponine would be interesting!
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Fantine
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We had Eponine VS Fantine before, but I don't remember much about it. It would also depend on what you would want to discuss about them.
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music is my life!!!
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i saw her as Eponine in the TAC and loved her, but i think Lea's best as Fantine because she's not only a more experienced actor, but also because she's experienced alot more than what she'd done after Miss Saigon.... does that make sense?
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Kragey
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I was not impressed with her Eponine.
Her Fantine wasn't my favorite portrayal, but it was pretty damn good.
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zombiefl12
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While I never saw Lea live as Eponine, I have the cd and dvd of the TAC performance and I personally find her angry/bitter/resentful Eponine to be extremely strong, if not the strongest.
However, I had the luck to be able to see her live as Fantine, and she gave such a moving, inspired performance that I'm yet to find another Fantine who even can come close. Too bad they didn't make a recording of the revival.
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Orestes Fasting
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| Kragey wrote: | I was not impressed with her Eponine.
Her Fantine wasn't my favorite portrayal, but it was pretty damn good. |
Word.
Lea was a good Fantine, but I've seen her eclipsed in both the singing and the acting departments. She kind of cried her way through the role, and while that was effective, her Fantine didn't have much of a backbone.
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Fantine
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It's hard for me to be objective because I love Lea a lot.
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Kragey
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| Fantine wrote: | | It's hard for me to be objective because I love Lea a lot. |
Understandable. I'm that way about Anthony Warlow and Bernadette Peters.
I don't dislike Lea, and I agree that she has immense talent. I just don't think she's the best out there, although again, I did enjoy her performance as Fantine.
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lottielou22
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guys, I know that this is kind of unrelated, but where are these awesome banner thingies coming from?? I love them!! Do you make them or what??
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lesmisloony
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D'you mean Kragey's Mizzies? She makes them. Amazingly. If you mean the quotes... various places. But I'll assume you mean the graphics.
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